They just do? You want your backswing to be a natural, repeatable motion.

Todays environment rewards high speed and high revs.  A high backswing is the most effective way to achieve both

Today's PBA pro on average is way more athletic than they have ever been. A lot of frames over 6ft, broad shoulders, long arms. Not a bunch of average league bowler pot belly types at the very very top. It's just physics and the mechanics of the human frame.

Quote from: thewhiz on October 24, 2018, 12:58:24 PM

Why do most pro bowlers have such high backswings?

Quote from: rocky61201 on October 24, 2018, 02:41:21 PM

If you are a righty - when you start your backswing keep your left arm straight out in front of you and try to make the thumb on your left hand point straight down at the floor.  If you are still keeping your balance at the top of your backswing your ball will be significantly higher than it was before.

If you can keep your upper body leaning forward by bending at the hips during your approach/delivery and keep your balance while doing it then your backswing should really start to get up there. 

If I didn't explain it well enough, go watch a slow mo video of Mike Fagan on you tube.

A lot of times the pro's backswings technically aren't any higher than the average bowler.  What you are seeing is the effect of forward body tilt bringing the ball height at the apex of the backswing higher than the head.  Look at many pros when the backswing is at its highest and you will see both arms out and perpendicular to the upper body.

This would be off-season work for me. Wouldn’t try any of it in season, but I don’t know if I could put enough revs on the ball to make this work lol

I’m athletic enough to get my backswing up there, just not sure I could add the revs on the downswing to make this worth it

Avabob is right. Today's game is about speed and power.

A word of caution though, when it comes to extending your non-bowling arm in front of you. If your game is more along the lines of a "down and in stroker", extending that arm our in front causes the bowling shoulder to rotate excessively. This is desirable if you have the other components of the modern (power release) to go along with it, which includes a high degree of both, forward and lateral spinal tilt (especially lateral spinal tilt), as well as getting the bowling wrist to uncoil at release. If all of these components are not in place, it can wreak havoc on a stroker's game--- a game that relies on keeping their angles in front of them at all times, even when playing an inside line (here, the stroker
must pivot their body away from the pocket, while maintaining the same total body alignment as if they were shooting up the boards. Strokers also must use far less
amounts of spinal tilt than do today's power players----- by necessity.

The point is that when it comes to the physical game, the "one size fits all approach"
can act as a real detriment to one's game---just the opposite of its well-intended purpose. 

Avabob is right. Today's game is about speed and power.

A word of caution though, when it comes to extending your non-bowling arm in front of you. If your game is more along the lines of a "down and in stroker", extending that arm our in front causes the bowling shoulder to rotate excessively. This is desirable if you have the other components of the modern (power release) to go along with it, which includes a high degree of both, forward and lateral spinal tilt (especially lateral spinal tilt), as well as getting the bowling wrist to uncoil at release. If all of these components are not in place, it can wreak havoc on a stroker's game--- a game that relies on keeping their angles in front of them at all times, even when playing an inside line (here, the stroker
must pivot their body away from the pocket, while maintaining the same total body alignment as if they were shooting up the boards. Strokers also must use far less
amounts of spinal tilt than do today's power players----- by necessity.

The point is that when it comes to the physical game, the "one size fits all approach"
can act as a real detriment to one's game---just the opposite of its well-intended purpose.

+1 as I learned after 3 balls in practice. Best to let the off arm naturally counter balance at least for my game.